The Big Heist
| The Big Heist | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Docudrama |
| Based on |
The Heist by Ernest Volkman John Cummings |
| Screenplay by |
Jere Cunningham Gary Hoffman |
| Directed by | Robert Markowitz |
| Starring |
Donald Sutherland John Heard Jamie Harris Janet Kidder |
| Theme music composer | Lou Pomanti |
| Country of origin |
Canada USA |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) |
Robert Markowitz Mark Winemaker |
| Editor(s) | David Beatty |
| Cinematography | Rudolf Blahacek |
| Running time | 92 min |
| Production company(s) |
Alliance Atlantis A&E Network Gary Hoffman Prod. |
| Release | |
| Original network | A&E Network |
| Original release |
|
The Big Heist is a Canadian-US TV movie which first aired in 2001, on the A&E Television Networks.
Based on the 1986 book The Heist: How a Gang Stole $8,000,000 at Kennedy Airport and Lived to Regret It, the film tells the story about the 1978 Lufthansa Heist. The heist was also the subject of the much better-known 1990 film Goodfellas, directed by Martin Scorsese. It was also the subject of another made-for-television film, The 10 Million Dollar Getaway (1991).[1]
Main cast
- Donald Sutherland as Jimmy Burke
- John Heard as Richard Woods
- Jamie Harris as Frankie Burke
- Janet Kidder as Maria
- Nick Sandow as Henry Hill
- Michael P. Moran as Louis the Whale, inspired by Louis Cafora
- Joe Pingue as Marty Krugman
- Bo Rucker as Parnell "Stacks" Edwards
- Rocco Sisto as Tommy DeSimone
- Robert Morelli as Angelo Sepe
- Joe Maruzzo as Paolo Falcone, inspired by Paolo LiCastri
- Gino Marrocco as Paulie Vario
- Sam Coppola as Paul Castellano
- Steven Randazzo as John Gotti
- Craig Eldridge as Agent Billings
Historical Context
The movie correctly depicts the Lufthansa Heist, showing Jimmy Burke as the leader of a crew linked to Paulie Vario; however, the crew wasn't part of the Gambino family, but was a large part of the Lucchese crime family and the robbery brought a large quantity of funding for Tony Corallo.
Also, Jimmy Burke did have connections with John Gotti; however, Gotti was never involved with the Lufthansa Heist nor did he want to. According to a rumour; apparently there was an FBI wire tap from the 1980s; two years after the original heist, Gotti was heard to say to underboss and his capo Aniello Dellacroce "I didn't want any part of that shit that Burke and those other fucks pulled. Only micks would do something crazy like this. Micks are fucking crazy; end of fucking statement".
References
- ↑ "Movies: The 10 Million Dollar Getaway". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
- Volkman, Ernest; Cummings, John (October 1986). The Heist: How a Gang Stole $8,000,000 at Kennedy Airport and Lived to Regret It. New York: Franklin Watts. ISBN 0-531-15024-0.
External links
| ||||||